Intermittent Fasting – the Answer to Menopause Madness!

While menopause can be a great positive (no more periods, the kids grown, and having the time to rediscover old passions—or new ones) it can also sometimes be a little like you are Alice going through the looking glass. You may feel like everything is changing; the image you have of yourself may become distorted.

Between the hot flashes, brain fog, inability to sleep, and other menopausal symptoms (dare I mention those 15 extra pounds this past year?), you certainly won’t feel like going to the Mad Hatter’s infamous tea party! More likely you’ll feel like you are going down the rabbit hole, yet again.

I know the feeling as I’ve been in menopause… twice!

I went through premature menopause when I was just thirty-eight due to PTSD from the traumatic loss of my young son. For years after that, I was simply in survival mode. I fought depression and fatigue and weighed as much as 240 pounds as my metabolism stalled. I struggled to get through each day.

I needed to reset both mentally and physically. I met with healers from all over the world and poured over women’s hormone and longevity research discovering practices that eventually helped me regain my health and sanity…

…only to go through natural age-related menopause again at forty-eight!

This time, along with my waistline, my brain, and my mood turning against me, my life became toxic (both physically and mentally)… I found myself with failed relationships, a near-bankrupt business, and many more struggles...

Once again I needed a reset.

But this time I had the perfect set of tools to do it with.

Flash forward, and I am thriving; I am no longer just surviving. I feel better than I ever have, and better yet, I have had the honor of helping thousands of women thrive through the sometimes “madness” of their menopause journeys as well. No Mad Hatters here! We are all smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

So how did we do it?

Just like Alice did as she traveled into her Wonderland adventures, we did it by shrinking!

Yes, shrinking!

And I’m talking about more than just shrinking belly fat and our witchy moods, ladies!

It is easy to do and a growing number of studies confirm this simple eating strategy positively affects our health and longevity in significant ways (while helping with our menopausal symptoms, too).

Better yet, this practice has been shown to be a daily routine that women can stick with (and even embrace). You also don’t have to buy anything special to do it.

So let’s begin. In today’s article, you’ll learn about,

• Why do we need to shrink our eating window

• What the best type of intermittent fasting is (and isn’t)

• The metabolic magic of ketosis

• How intermittent fasting is especially supportive of menopause

• How to get started (and why alkalinity is a good place to begin)

Why We Need to Shrink Our Eating Window

The research consistently tells us that reducing the window of time we eat is healthier for the majority of people and particularly supportive of women during periods of hormone fluctuation and decline.

This includes times of significant hormone imbalance such as PMS and perimenopause or when having hormone-based conditions such as PCOS, as well as when our hormones decline during menopause and postmenopause. The decline of estrogen in particular can result in brain fog and weight gain. I’ll talk more about how shrinking our eating window addresses these common conditions of estrogen deficiency so well. (1,2)

When we don’t eat late at night and we reduce our eating window our digestion is better and our gut healthier, our blood sugar and insulin are lower and more stable, and our hormones are more balanced (including our appetite-related hormones…so less cravings), our internal circadian clock more optimally set to perform the important metabolic processes that can keep us healthiest (like DNA repair and autophagy, an important cellular cleaning function that helps keep us disease-free). I’ll share some of the substantial research on all of this later on in this article.

When our blood sugar and insulin are kept at healthy levels and our circadian clock is optimally set we also sleep better and have fewer menopausal symptoms like sugar and carb cravings, hot flashes, and night sweats.

When we confine our eating to a reduced window during daylight hours we honor our evolutionary design. Our ancestors didn’t have electricity (nor electronics and the internet), so people went to sleep when it became dark (and didn’t eat until it was light). They certainly didn’t order a late-night pizza or polish off a bag of chips before retiring. Food had to be hunted or grown so it wasn’t as available (and certainly wasn’t processed and sugary).

I’m guessing very few cavemen were obese or insulin resistant and I’d be curious about what a cavewoman’s menopause experience looked like!

When we reduce our eating window we can lose a lot of fat relatively quickly, especially belly fat (which is visceral fat, the dangerous kind of fat that is metabolically active and inflammatory).

So how do we shrink our eating window to gain these benefits?

The answer is the right kind of intermittent fasting.

So let’s talk about what that is – and isn’t.

What the Best Kind of Intermittent Fasting Is (and Isn’t)

You’ve all heard of fasting, but you may think of it as a very difficult practice that involves starving yourself for days at a time, or only drinking juice, or purchasing pre-packaged foods (did someone say shrink-wrapped meals?). But that isn’t the type of fasting I’m talking about. I’m talking about simply shrinking the window of time in which you eat during each day.

Researchers call this type of fasting time-restricted feeding. You are not focusing on calorie counting or extreme food deprivation, just reducing the number of hours during the day in which you eat (called your “feeding” window). The rest of the time outside of your feeding window is when you are fasting.

   The optimal fasting and feeding window   

For optimal health benefits I recommend women work up to a 16/8 fasting and feeding window. This means you are fasting for 16 hours with a feeding window of about 8 hours during each day. Now don’t panic! It really isn’t that hard to do and you can ease into it by fasting for 12 hours or so at the start (many people already do this naturally if they don’t snack after dinner; remember you are sleeping a lot of this time, as well).

You might eat dinner at 6, and stop eating by 7; so you’ll eat your first meal after your night-time fast around 11:00 am. I actually eat by 6 each night and then have my first meal at 10:00 in the morning. I may have a bit of herbal tea or bone broth at night and there are a number of beverages (including coffee) you can have when you wake up that do not break your fast.

  Or does this sound like you?  

Many women don’t realize how much food they consume outside of this ideal feeding window. One study found that out of 156 adults, some 50 percent consumed food or beverages less than two hours before bedtime! Additionally, almost half of the people in the study ate their daily consumption of food during a prolonged window of time each day (>15 hours). (3)

I have found that many women starting my menopause and restorative health programs (and many of The Hormone Fix readers that I hear from) have this type of excessive feeding window and that this eating pattern is wreaking havoc on their waistline, insulin control, gut health, and hormone balance. Most suffer from hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, and brain fog… and feel like strangers in their own bodies. Some have given up on feeling like themselves again. Many are continuing to calorie count (which still isn’t working), and are often insulin resistant or pre-diabetic.

But I tell them that it’s not just too many calories or a lack of willpower that makes the weight difficult to lose. The body actually has an adaptive response to calorie restriction that results in increased appetite, reduced muscle mass, and hormone fluctuations promoting fat deposition! (4-6)

Yikes, we don’t want any of that, right?

  Intermittent fasting’s health benefits include lasting adaptive responses to stress  

Intermittent fasting, on the other hand, can provide just the opposite of these adaptive responses (seen as a result of calorie restriction dieting) and help us lose unhealthy belly fat quickly—without increasing appetite.

But it is also much more than that. Not only does it provide the benefits already mentioned above (especially relating to weight loss, and glucose and insulin control) but most of the body’s organs respond positively to ongoing intermittent fasting and gain lasting adaptive responses to subsequent stressors.

This is exciting and powerful support for your ongoing health!

Studies have found that the body’s cells respond to continued intermittent fasting by increasing expression of DNA repair, antioxidant defenses, mitochondrial biogenesis (our body’s powerhouses where energy is created), autophagy, protein quality control, and the down-regulation of inflammation. All of this leads to ongoing protection from future stressors including oxidative, metabolic, and traumatic stress among others. (7,8)

  Other types of fasting and why I recommend the 16/8 time-restricted feeding  

There are other forms of intermittent fasting (such as 24/72 hour fasts, alternate day fasting, or multiple days of fasting—such as the 5:2 protocol which is a two-day fast), liquid and cleansing fasts, and of course, there are also calorie restrictive diets.

I will do other types of fasting from time to time (to change things up, kick-start more rapid weight loss, or as a detox routine). But still, 16/8 intermittent fasting is what I recommend as a ROUTINE part of my Keto-Green® program because it works so well for menopausal women for sustained  weight (and waistline) loss and has so many proven health and longevity benefits including restoring insulin sensitivity. 

16/8 intermittent fasting has also been associated with reduced breast cancer risk.   Researchers found that an overnight fasting period of ≥12.5 likely improved insulin sensitivity and reduced overall inflammation (reducing breast cancer risk). (9)

The best part of 16/8 intermittent fasting though is that the majority of women find they can easily fold it into their everyday lives.  If you can’t truly enjoy an ongoing eating lifestyle, you certainly can’t maintain it.

Other types of fasting have proven to be more challenging, resulting in a yo-yo effect (we especially see this with women over 40 as they gain weight back again and again, referred to as rebound weight). In research comparing other forms of intermittent fasting to 16/8 intermittent fasting, a high degree of diet program abandonment was reported in other forms of intermittent fasting, in the range of up to 40 percent. (10,11)

Intermittent fasting is all about the feeding window (WHEN versus WHAT you eat), but while it does not require calorie restriction during your feeding window it is obviously important women still eat healthily. Eating a diet loaded with pizza and sugary or carb-heavy snacks certainly won’t gain your desired results. I recommend my Keto-Green® diet for this reason. It restricts carbs while adding in healthy fats and provides an alkaline anti-inflammatory state.   Most women who routinely practice intermittent fasting actually find that they consume fewer calories even while not focused on counting calories.

Eating a Keto-Green diet during your feeding window will also further boost the metabolic magic of intermittent fasting, that being the metabolic state of ketosis. 

When the body doesn’t have a lot of carbs (like in typical ketogenic diets as well as my Keto-Green diet), or as a result of the metabolic changes brought about during intermittent fasting, it goes into a metabolic state called ketosis.

During ketosis your body transforms into a fat-burning machine, burning through unhealthy fat stores and producing substances called ketone bodies for its fuel (rather than using glucose). (12) While in ketosis your body goes from fat storage to fat burning and you can lose a lot of weight, especially that inflammatory toxin-loaded abdominal fat.

Ketones’ positive effects extend beyond their providing fuel; their benefits carry on long-term with major effects on cell and organ functions throughout the body including supporting brain health and providing protection from a variety of metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance. (13) I’ll talk much more about this in a moment.

Ketones represent a kind of metabolic switch for weight loss, brain health, and insulin control as well as providing anti-aging benefits and prevention of disease.

Intermittent fasting results in ketones as well as providing the earlier mentioned cellular protections such as increased autophagy, DNA repair, mitochondrial biogenesis, etc.

Achieving these metabolic changes is particularly relevant to women as they transition through menopause, so let’s talk about that in more detail.

How Intermittent Fasting is Especially Supportive of Menopause

We know that as we approach and enter menopause that our hormones are in significant decline, in particular estrogen and progesterone.

During this time middle-aged women are more likely to:

So let’s talk a bit about how intermittent fasting (IF) addresses some of these major menopausal concerns. In this section, I’ll discuss how,

• IF reduces our (already increased) risk for obesity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular diseases, and other unhealthy states

• IF feeds our estrogen-starved brains

• IF helps reset and maintain our circadian clock which keeps us healthier

Gaining weight and having a reduced metabolism (including reduced fat metabolism) are key markers of menopause, and the risk for metabolic syndrome (again, this includes obesity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and increased risk for type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases) increases as women gain abdominal body fat (visceral fat). (19,20) At the same time, many of us may have a decrease in energy expenditure (less exercise) which compounds the weight gain and metabolism problem. (21)

While statistics vary, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in pre- and postmenopausal women ranges from about 13.8 percent to more than 60 percent (depending on the particular population you are looking at). (22) In my menopause reset programs I find metabolic syndrome to be very prevalent, probably about 30 - 50% percent of participants.

So why does a woman’s metabolism seemingly “turn off” during menopause?

These metabolic changes are brought on in large part due to estrogen deficiency which may result in less efficient regulation of energy and glucose metabolism. (23) Menopausal women are three times more likely to develop obesity and metabolic syndrome compared to premenopausal women. (24)

While research has found that estrogen hormone replacement therapy can improve metabolic syndrome conditions such as insulin resistance, and can reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk factors, many women can’t safely take estrogen hormone replacement therapy due to cancer concerns. (25,26)

Estrogen primarily accumulates subcutaneous fat which has beneficial metabolic activities which improve energy, glucose, and lipid metabolism. As we enter menopause, with less estrogen, fat accumulation increases but it is mainly visceral fat in the abdomen. Visceral fat reduces metabolism, is pro-inflammatory, and exacerbates insulin resistance. (27)

As estrogen declines and belly fat increases abdominal fat cells start to produce unhealthy amounts of substances such as ghrelin, leptin, resistin, and adiponectin which regulate our appetite as well as the metabolism of lipids and glucose. Menopausal women often have elevated levels of leptin and resistin, and decreased levels of adiponectin and ghrelin. High leptin and low adiponectin correlate with insulin resistance markers. (28)

Most women who have belly fat will already have leptin resistance which means the body erroneously thinks it is starving so there is increased appetite and less fat burning. (29) Fat cells release substances that modify the body’s sensitivity to insulin, such as tumor-necrosis factor (TNF- α) and free fatty acids, also increasing the risk of insulin resistance. (30,31)

Fat cells also contain receptors (estrogen, androgen, glucocorticoid, etc.) which can bind xenobiotics (endocrine disruptors that mimic estrogen). This can cause inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and result in metabolic diseases including insulin resistance. (32) Endocrine disruptors may also impact the expression of circadian clock genes and modify the gut microbiota makeup, creating metabolic disruption.

So we want to be able to burn away that unhealthy abdominal fat, detox the stored toxins (including endocrine disruptors and spent estrogens), and increase our metabolism in order to reduce our risk for metabolic syndrome diseases such as insulin resistance. Intermittent fasting has been proven to accomplish all of this. 

Metabolic improvements from intermittent fasting promote visceral fat loss, but the preservation of lean muscle tissue

Multiple studies have found fasting reduces total weight, waist circumference (this is important as a reduced waist circumference—visceral fat—correlates with improved insulin sensitivity), and body mass index. (33-35)

Unlike with calorie-restricted diets intermittent fasting has also been shown to preserve lean muscle mass. This is important for menopausal women as natural hormone decline already contributes to a decrease in lean body mass. Less muscle mass means we burn less fat so we want to retain as much as possible.

One study using 16/8 intermittent fasting, and involving women over 60 on a 6-week fast, found weight reduction ranging from 2.5 to 9.9 percent. Perhaps more importantly the fasting program participants had a significant reduction in body fat (nearly 1.6 percent) while maintaining lean mass at an almost unchanged level. The non-fasting group increased fat mass by over 1 percent and decreased lean mass by 0.66 percent. (36)

Metabolic improvements from intermittent fasting provide cardio-protective benefits

Cardiovascular disease is another condition found within the grouping of metabolic syndrome diseases. Intermittent fasting also addresses the metabolic abnormalities that result in cardiovascular diseases. Intermittent fasting has been shown to have cardio-protective effects including: improving blood pressure and resting heart rate, decreasing total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels (and increasing HDL-cholesterol levels), improving lipid profile and improving glucose and insulin levels. (37,38) 

Metabolic improvements from intermittent fasting address insulin resistance, the real “curse” of menopause

I can’t stress how important insulin sensitivity is to our health and longevity. Insulin resistance is a comorbidity of menopause with increasing prevalence seen in postmenopausal women. Some 65-70 percent of women having PCOS are affected with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a risk factor for many serious life-affecting diseases including type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

In my women’s restorative health programs, I find insulin resistance to affect a significant number of participants. With the Keto-Green diet and including intermittent fasting participants have regained insulin sensitivity along with loss of belly fat. Important biomarkers for glucose control (A1C), inflammation (CRP), and cardiovascular risk (DHEA-s) also routinely show improvements on important lab tests.

Time and time again I’ve had women in my programs report to me that their A1C number of 5.7 or above (considered pre-diabetic or diabetic) has dropped to healthier numbers like 5.3 or 5.4. Read about one woman’s success with the Keto-Green Diet and intermittent fasting, and consider signing up for my free masterclass on reducing your risk for prediabetes and diabetes.

It is shocking to me that so many of us have insulin resistance without knowing (you really need a blood test for prediabetes such as for A1C in order to flag it). Yet insulin resistance predicts greater risk of developing type 2 Diabetes as early as thirty years before diagnosis! (39)

One of the greatest benefits of intermittent fasting, in my view, is that it improves insulin sensitivity. That’s why I am such a huge proponent of intermittent fasting as the benefits are so much greater than mere weight loss and looking better! There is a lot of research that substantiates this as a major health benefit that is particularly relevant to menopausal women. (40)

Studies have also found that intermittent fasting is superior in improving glycemic metabolism and cardiovascular risk, compared to calorie restricted diets having carbohydrates. (41)

Here’s a great podcast on how intermittent fasting addresses insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (my podcast guest estimated that 70-80 percent of US adults have metabolic syndrome even when they are tested as having “normal” blood sugar levels!).

Insulin resistance increases the risk for cognitive decline and even Alzheimer’s disease, so let’s talk about how intermittent fasting has been shown to improve our brain health and function. Again, these risks go well beyond the brain fogginess of menopause.   

Some 80 percent of women report neurological symptoms during menopause. This includes brain fog, cognition degradation, memory lapses, mood swings, depression, and anxiety. And there’s a reason for this!

The estrogen deficiency seen in menopause literally starves a woman’s brain. 

(42,43) For this reason, along with other common menopause-related neurological symptoms, dementia and the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease increases after menopause.

One of estrogen’s many functions is to stimulate glucose uptake in the brain (transporting glucose to our energy powerhouses, the mitochondria); glucose is the brain’s primary fuel.

When estrogen starts to decline we see metabolic activity in the brain drop as well, with resultant brain fog, memory loss, and other cognitive issues in women. Even if a woman’s body is overloaded with glucose, if her estrogen levels are low her body won’t be able to efficiently transport the glucose for use by the mitochondria. Her brain will be starved for fuel and she will be at risk for insulin resistance.

A lot of animal research has been done looking at this issue of declining estrogen and its effect on the female brain. Some fascinating imaging studies have been done on women as well. These studies show that when women are premenopausal their neurons are efficiently working and they don’t have Alzheimer’s plaques. But when women go through menopause (and a decline in estrogen) there is a drop in activity inside the brain (as shown on scans) and there is an onset of Alzheimer’s plaques. You can hear my interview with Dr. Lisa Mosconi about how estrogen deficiency during menopause affects brain health at the linked podcast. I encourage you to listen in; her research on this is fascinating.

The good news is that we can replace this important function (of estrogen feeding our brains!) with ketones!

A number of studies have confirmed this.

One animal study looked at how estrogen deficiency (which caused menopause related symptoms in rats such as visceral fat accumulation, dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance, as well as a deterioration of metabolism and cognitive functions such as memory loss) could be addressed via intermittent fasting’s beneficial effects (ketones and other metabolic effects). The study found that intermittent fasting partly protected against cognitive dysfunction and menopausal symptoms as well as decreasing β-amyloid deposition (an Alzheimer’s marker). (44)

Ketones have also been found to trigger the release of BDNF which strengthens neural connections in the brain responsible for memory and learning.

For more details please read my earlier article discussing this important topic, “Why estrogen decline during menopause leaves women vulnerable to literally starving their brain of fuel (and how intermittent fasting and ketones can help”

I also came across an interesting podcast by “Dementia Matters (The University of Wisconsin-Madison)” that I am including here as it is a great, easy-to-understand review on intermittent fasting’s unique role as a vital metabolic switch. (45) The guest speaker is a pioneer of intermittent fasting, very knowledgeable, and has published several excellent reviews on intermittent fasting health benefits, Mark P. Mattson, PhD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology.

Due to the powerful protective effects of ketones on neurons, ketogenic diets have been used in the treatment of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s. Not only can ketones “feed” the brain but fasting improves insulin sensitivity (a risk factor for Alzheimer’s) and supports autophagy and other cellular functions supporting overall cell health and longevity.

During menopause in particular, many women experience circadian rhythm disruptions due to hormone imbalances. Declining hormones can cause adverse changes in the gut microbiome (bacteria makeup and gut barrier protection), loss of protective metabolic processes (like the cellular cleaning function, autophagy), and sleep disruption, among other things. Menopause-related symptoms (hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, etc.) can themselves cause disruptions to normal activity/rest, day/night, and feeding/fasting cycles and further impact our circadian rhythm cycles.

Intermittent fasting has been found to “reset” our circadian clocks to help us maintain optimal health.

Menopause, our circadian clock, and gut health

Menopause is associated with an increase in gut permeability (leaky gut), when immune cells produce pro-inflammatory cytokines due to gut barrier dysfunction. So, menopause already predisposes us to increased risks of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and dementia. (46-53)

On top of this, eating foods too late at night may disturb normal day/night and feeding/fasting cycles of our circadian clock and impact the actual makeup of the species of bacteria in the gut microbiome as well as further impact the integrity of the gut barrier.

Research has shown that when eating is outside of normal timing parameters, the timing of gastrointestinal functions is disrupted. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as constipation and functions such as intestinal motility, bile secretion, enzyme activity, and the flow of gastric juices can be adversely impacted. The body’s circadian clock is wired to focus on these functions of active digestion during normal daytime cycles with reparative processes at night (such as those needed to keep our gut lining healthy). (54,55)

There have been strong correlations made between late-night shift work and the predisposition to obesity, metabolic syndrome, and even cancer. (56) Participants subjected to circadian changes for just 10 days are shown to have developed elevated insulin along with other negative health markers. (57)

Circadian misalignment was found to increase insulin resistance in only 3 days. (58)

The good news is that fasting has been shown to recalibrate circadian rhythm and diminish gut permeability and inflammation. (59,60)

Menopause, our circadian clock, and sleep disruption

Menopause is a stage of life prone for sleep disturbances with insomnia being one of the most reported symptoms by menopausal women. (61)

This is partly due to declining hormones. Estradiol and progesterone receptors in the brain have been found to regulate sleep, wakefulness, and circadian rhythms. There are also other disease states in older women that may affect sleep (thyroid disease, restless leg syndrome, and obesity being three examples), as well as impacts from medications, sleep apnea and other breathing problems, delayed bedtime, painful conditions, lack of physical exercise, nutrient deficiencies (magnesium is a big one for women) and stress (cortisol doesn’t play nice with getting a good night’s sleep). (62)

Additionally, hormonal-related symptoms such as hot flashes, anxiety, and incontinence often impact sleep in menopausal women.

All of these factors may disrupt circadian rhythms and consequently further impact sleep. A frequent complaint of menopausal women is early morning awakening which may be due to circadian misalignment. (63)

Poor sleep affects appetite and food intake. One study found that partial sleep deprivation resulted in participants increasing their caloric intake by some 20 percent (for foods rich in carbs and fat). Poor sleep is linked to weight gain and abdominal fat accumulation. (64)

Late nighttime eating (which leads to circadian clock disruption) has also been found to negatively affect the quality and quantity of sleep and lead to greater risk for obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurobehavioral dysfunction.

Intermittent fasting helps “recalibrate” our circadian rhythm and results in improved sleep and positive health effects. Intermittent fasting increases the body’s parasympathetic tone (reducing the risk for insulin resistance and needed for quality sleep). (65-70)

In my programs, participants practicing a Keto-Green diet—including intermittent fasting—routinely report improvements in sleep quantity and quality.

Menopause, circadian rhythm, and hot flashes

A common occurrence during menopause is having frequent hot flashes due in part to declining estrogen and its effect on the body’s thermoregulation. Other known risk factors for hot flashes include obesity and insulin resistance, as well as having more frequent sleep disruptions (impacting normal circadian clock cycles). (71-73)

Eating late or too often has been shown to impact the body’s circadian clock which then can disrupt many of the metabolic rhythms of other systems including glucose and lipids.

Some researchers think that glucose transport deficiencies may also cause menopausal hot flashes. As discussed earlier under brain health, declines in estrogen affect glucose availability for the brain (so the brain starts to starve with reduced fuel for brain neurons). In this hypothesis, a hot flash is the body’s neurovascular attempt to increase blood flow and the delivery of glucose to the brain. (74,75)

Just like ketones produced during intermittent fasting can be used as an alternative fuel for the brain, some researchers believe that ketones can substitute for the lack of glucose transport that may trigger hot flashes. More research is needed but it makes a lot of sense that hot flashes are associated with glucose control given that hot flash frequency and severity increases with obesity and insulin resistance (and that weight loss has been associated with improvements in hot flashes). (76,77)

Research on this is still lacking but I know from my own experience and those of hundreds of women in my Keto-Green community that once they are producing ketones (from my Keto-Green diet and including intermittent fasting), and have improved glucose and insulin control, that many of their menopausal symptoms, including weight gain, hot flashes, and sleep, improve. Participants in my Magic Menopause program see those health benefits as well as reduced inflammation, improvements in digestion and mood, and so much more.

Other recalibrations of the body’s circadian clock (such as making improvements in sleep) have also been associated with improvements in hot flashes. (78)

Along with intermittent fasting, I recommend Zenful as it addresses hot flashes, sleep problems, anxiety, and mood swings. Mighty Maca^Ⓡ Plus can also help with many of the symptoms of menopause, check out this detailed article on how Maca provides such great menopausal support.

Menopause, circadian rhythm, and restorative functions

Consuming most of our energy during the day with a lengthier fasting window at night has been shown to improve circadian rhythmicity, reduce inflammation, increase autophagy and stress resistance, and positively modulate our gut microbiota. (79)

Shrinking our eating window allows the body to go into its “maintenance” rhythm at night (taking care of vital cellular processes, hormone production, and important reparative functions) rather than focusing on digestive processes (that are more optimally tuned for daytime). There is more detail on how restorative functions are improved with intermittent fasting in this linked article.

When people eat too often their cells receive a steadier supply of nutrients so remain in an “active growth” mode in which protein synthesis occurs and autophagy is suppressed. Fasting on the other hand stimulates autophagy in the cells of many tissues and repairs or removes damaged molecules.

So let’s talk about how we can accomplish recalculating our circadian clock, gaining the benefits of autophagy and other restorative functions, supporting our gut (and gaining improved immune health), losing visceral fat, increasing insulin sensitivity, improving our brain health, and reducing other menopausal miseries!

Again, like Alice...let’s start shrinking!

How to Get Started (And Why Alkalinity is a Good Place to Begin)

First, before starting intermittent fasting, I recommend women focus on alkalinity —which helps reduce inflammation, stabilize blood sugar, and ease the transition into ketosis. One simple way to do this is by incorporating Mighty Maca Plus into your daily routine. I recommend this blend of 30+ superfoods, adaptogens, and alkalizing greens to help support hormone balance, combat inflammation, and optimize metabolism—making it an excellent companion to an intermittent fasting lifestyle.

You can then ease into intermittent fasting by starting with a 12-hour fasting period. Since intermittent fasting can put extra stress on your body at first, supporting your adrenals, digestion, and hormone health with key nutrients can make a huge difference in how you feel during the transition. 

During your feeding window I recommend women follow my Keto-Green diet to achieve the health benefits of both alkalinity and ketosis. My Keto-Green diet focuses on plate ratios versus calorie counting (very low carbs, medium protein, and healthy fats), along with a goal of 16/8 intermittent fasting. There is also a Keto-Green lifestyle component to help women improve their stress management, movement, relationships, positivity, etc. which is very integral to my program’s success. I talk about these lifestyle elements on my blog and on The Girlfriend Doctor Show.

You should consider routinely testing your blood sugar levels, especially if you are overweight or have glucose and/or insulin control issues. I personally have worn a continuous glucose monitor for several years now to more accurately see how my fasting (and feasting) is impacting my body. I also used it to test all of the menus in my book, Keto-Green16.

It is fascinating to learn what impacts your blood sugar, such as particular foods, stress levels, sleep, and even exercise. Even foods you thought were “healthy” may surprise you in terms of its effect on you. I found I had issues with my morning cup of coffee.

Having support is helpful and there are many ways to get that when starting out on intermittent fasting.

Follow me on social media and you will get ongoing information and community support on topics relating to my Keto-Green diet and intermittent fasting (and so much more). Subscribe to The Girlfriend Doctor Show, which is fun and informative.

You can find articles on most menopause topics here on my blog, just do a little search. I have numerous articles on all of today’s topics as well as vaginal dryness and incontinence, breast health, libido, and other topics that are relevant to women during menopause… as well as their other ages and stages.

I am here to help! As The GirlFriend Doctor, you can ask me anything. Submit your question at the bottom of this linked page. We’re in this together!

[And please remember: Strict fasting should not be done without your doctor’s approval if you are under treatment for a medical condition or are type 1 diabetic. Fasting is also not recommended during pregnancy or for children. As always, check with your doctor before trying new diets, exercise programs or supplements.] 

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